The Times in its edition dated 2nd January 1960 reported
the following

THREE DIE IN PUBLIC HOUSE SHOOTING

Three men were killed and two injured last night when a man armed with a
revolver began shooting in the crowded concert room of a Sheffield public house.
Michael McFarlane died instantly. George Frederick Morris and a Royal Navy man,
Thomas Owen, died later in hospital.

Early to-day Donald McFarlane.. who was injured and is believed to be
Michaels brother was undergoing a major brain operation. The fifth man. Kenneth
Ellis aged 21

, was detained with a
wrist injury.

A man was taken into custody in connexion with
the shooting.

Two days later the same paper
gave additional information

C

HARGE
OF TRIPLE MURDER

Mohamed Ismail aged 30, a native of

British Somaliland, unemployed labourer of
Spital Hill, Sheffield. was at Sheffield on Saturday remanded in custody until
January 11, charged with triple capital murder.

He was alleged
to have shot Michael McFarlane, Thomas Michael Owen. and George Frederick
Morris. Detective Chief Superintendent G. A. Carnill, said that Ismail was also
alleged to have shot Donald McFarlane brother of one of the dead men - who was
said to be in a critical
condition and Kenneth Ellis

And finally on 26th February 1960
The Times on its inside pages gave the following report of the trial

SOMALI ON CHARGES OF TRIPLE MURDER

Mohamed Ismail, aged 30, a Somali
labourer. of Spital Hill. Sheffield. was found at
Sheffield Assizes yesterday to plead to charges of
triple capital murder. He was ordered to be detained until
the Queen's pleasure be made known

Ismail, was charged with the murder by shooting of three men. When the
committal proceedings were heard before Sheffield magistrates.
the prosecution stated the men were singing in a public house during an
extension of licensed hours on New Year's Day shortly
after 10.30 p.m. Ismail, took a revolver from his pocket and fired at the men one
after another.

When I first saw these reports I was amazed at the dearth
of information that they contained. There was no reference to the name of the
public house where the murders occurred or even the district where the pub was
located. No information was given about the victims of the attack or about the
aftermath of the incident. Given that three men were killed and two others
injured and the assailant faced the death penalty for triple murder, I would
have thought that the case would have featured prominently in the national
press.

Fortunately the local press gather the triple murder more
prominence. The Sheffield Telegraph reported the murders under the title

THREE DIE IN SHEFFIELD SHOOTING

POLICE HOLD MAN AFTER DRAMA IN PUB

Three men were killed and two were injured when a man
produced a revolver and started shooting in a crowded smoke-room of a Sheffield
public house last night.

One man died immediately. Two died at Sheffield Royal
Infirmary. Sheffield poice announced early this morning that a man had been
taken into custody in connection with the deaths.

The time was 10.45p.m. in the East House, Spital Hill -
Sheffield's public houses had an extension for New Years Day.

MAJOR OPERATION

People in the bar were singing carols around the piano
when suddenly a man who refused to join in pulled out a revolver. Seconds later
Michael MacFarlane of Perkyn Road Sheffield was lying dead, and George Fred
Morris of Writtle Road and Thomas Owen a soldier on leave were gravely injured.
They died in hospital.

Seriouly injured and taken to the Royal Infirmary was
Donald MacFarlane brothet of one of the dead men, also of Perkyn Road, Kenneth
Ellis of Forncett Street Sheffield had a wrist injury. Donald MacFarlane is
undergoing a major brain operation at the hospital to save his life.

"HEARD BANGS"

Fifty-six year old Thomas Gulfoyle who lives just opposit
the pub told a Sheffield Telegraph reporter shortly after the incident "I was
watching the television and heard four or five bangs. There was a rumpus across
the road at the pub. Then I heard the police arrive"

Mr Donald Bilton a close friend of Fred Morris told a
reporter "Fred usually drank at the East House and had gone there to celebrate
the New Year"

Fred Morris aged 30 was an employee of Firth Browns Ltd
and lived with his brother and sister in law.

A neighbour of the MacFarlanes at Perkyn Road Shiregreen
said of the two brothers "Mick and Don always went round together and never went
out with women, They were very sociable but only went out drinkingon special
occassions. they went down to Pitsmoor for a drink because they used
to live ther five years ago.

Michael was aged about 23 and Donald is about 28. They
lived with their parents in a council house and are believed to be steelworkers

In April 2009 I obtained two newspaper reports from The Manchester
Guardian dated 2nd January 1960 and another report that appeared in The Observer
dated 3rd January 1960. The former stated

The Observer's report was under the title

SOMALI ON ON TRIPLE MURDER CHARGE

A native of British Somaliland, Mohamed Ismail, 30, an
unemployed
labourer. of Spital Hill. Sheffield was remanded in custody at Sheffield
yesterday until January 11 charged with triple capital murder.

Ismail who was handcuffed in the dock was alleged to have
shot Michael McFarlane, Thomas Michael Owen.
and George Frederick Morris. Detective Chief Superintendent G. A. Carnill, said that Ismail was also
alleged to have shot Donald McFarlane brother of one of the dead men - who was
said to be in a critical
condition - and Kenneth Ellis

Chief Superintendent Carnill
said he went to the smoke room of the East House public house Spital
Hill, Sheffield on Friday night and saw Michael
McFarlane dead on the floor. The bodies of Owen and Morris were at the Royal
Infirmary.

He later showed Ismail a
revolver which had been found on him and said " I have reason to believe you
shot these men with this revolver and that you wounded Donald McFarlane
and Kenneth Ellis" Ismail replied "Yes, sir"

Ismail had no money, and so far
as was known no relatives in Britain.

Asked in court if he wanted a
solicitor to represent him, Ismail said "I don't mind". He was granted legal
aid.

This was the first mention I'd come across in the national press which
actually mentioned the name of the East House. The photograph below was taken twenty years later in 1980

I did know of the incident and did a internet search but the details were
meagre to say the least. A right-wing website furnished further details of the
victims. Michael McFarlane was aged 22 and a local steelworker whilst George
Morris was eight years older and a furnace pitman. (see note 1) The last victim
Thomas Owen was 27 and a regular soldier (The Times stated he was a naval
rating). From the information I have it appears that Thomas was stood watching
the pianist play on the piano and a man walked in and shot him dead

The first book I checked was "Sheffield Public Houses by Michael Liversage" .
He relates the following information

'A Somalian named Mohamed Ishmail, calmly walked into the 'House' drew a revolver
and discharged all six rounds into the customers as they sat around enjoying New
Years Day 1960.
Three died almost instantly and two more were seriously injured, one, Donald
McFarland was crippled for life. The Somali was caught hiding in the toilets and
upon his arrest , stated that he wanted to kill himself but his religious
beliefs forbade him from doing so. He thought being that we, the British, would
hang him for the crime of murder, therefore fulfilling his desire to die.
Unfortunately, we the British, deported him back to Somalia after six months. A
pub talk by local historian Douglas Lamb stated that Ishmail, had ran amok when
he returned home and was gunned down. Hopefully true, but no definite evidence
of this incident has come to light.'

Douglas Lamb in his book " A Pub On Every Corner" puts the murders at just
before 11.00pm when Ishmail, began shooting at a group of seven young men who
were singing around the piano. Michael McFarlane instantaneously whilst the two
friends George Morris and Thomas Owen died soon afterwards.
Donald McFarlane, Michael's brother received serious head injuries that required
many months of hospitalisation and left him with permanent disabilities. As for
Ishmail, once he had emptied the revolver he headed straight for the pub toilet
where he was arrested minutes later. The author then relates the aftermath of
the case. The jury at his trial at Sheffield Assizes took only fifteen minutes
to declare him "unfit to plead" and he was "detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure."
It appears that Ishmail, was released after only twenty two months and deported
back to Somalia where he supposedly met his fate.

A report in The Guardian
dated 29th January 1960 also adds confirms the events of that night

J.P. Bean in his book "Crime in Sheffield" adds to the account
by disclosing that it was the Medical Officer at Armley Jail in Leeds where he
was being held on remand that declared that there was unmistakable evidence that
he was insane. He believed that evil voices spoke to him through the electrical
system and that he had smashed the light bulbs to stop the voices reaching him.
However Bean reveals that it was The Sheffield Star that was the source of the
material about Ishmail's, release. A feature article by Ian Macgill, in
January 1984 stated that that Ishmail, was released from Broadmoor, in April
1962, just 22 months after being sentenced, and deported back to his home
country of Somalia. The survivors of the
shooting were reported to be have been stunned by this revelation. Donald
McFarland who had been severely injured in the attack had received no
compensation whatsoever in the interim. Because the attack happened before the
introduction of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme he did not receive a
penny. I have been unable to find the reason why Ishmail, was released from Broadmoor
but can only assume that he was deemed to be no longer a danger to the public
once he had received proper treatment and care for his illness.

It was a former acquaintance of Ishmail who had known him in both Somalia
and Sheffield who contacted The Sheffield Star a day after the article appeared.
This is the source of the information about Ishmail's death. This acquaintance states
that in the
late 1960's he ran amok in a village in Somalia, murdering several villagers
before he was himself killed. It appears that the doctors at Broadmoor had made
an incorrect diagnosis!

In July 2012 I received a reference and was referred to
The Sheffield Star dated 3rd January 1984 which contained the following article
on the ultimate fate of Ishmail

The Sheffield Star dated 3rd January 1984

Thankfully, murders on this scale are very
rare indeed. As far as I can ascertain, the worst case of multiple murder in
Sheffield was that of the Laycock Family in 1884
when five people were killed by Joseph Laycock. The only other case that springs to mind in
Sheffield since the East House murders is that of three members of the Laitner family at their daughter's
wedding reception in Dore (1983)

Notes

1. George worked at Firth Brown's in Sheffield where he was known as Mick Morris.
He lived
with his sister on Writtle Street in the Burngreave area of Sheffield and on the
day of the murder he had been working until 6 pm. One of his colleagues had promised to go have a drink with him and Tommy
Musgrave that night. He recounts that the gunman held the gun at Tommy Musgrave's head and pulled
the trigger. Fortunately there was no more bullets left in the gun. Mick
Morris's funeral at Burngreave, Cemetery was one of the largest the area had seen
for many years.

2. J.P. Bean in his book "Crime in Sheffield" identifies the weapon as a
Smith and Wesson revolver

3. At the time the murders took place in the East House, a local Sheffield
journalist was passing the scene but due to his inebriated state he ignored the
incident. In his autobiography he recalls

"On my way home one evening, after a long session in the pub, I saw four
police cars parked outside a little pub called the Vine (it was the East House).
I decided that I'd better go nowhere near it in my inebriated state and
drifted home to covert my sofa into a bed. In the morning the headline in the
Daily Express was "FOUR SHOT DEAD in SHEFFIELD HARLEM". I would have been the
first journalist on the scene. I kept very silent about that..."

The journalist went on to become one of Britain's top television writers.
He recounted this episode in his autobiography "I Didn't Get Where I am Today". His name
is David Nobbs, and he was the creator amongst other things, of Reggie Perrin.

4. In January 2007 I received further information about Kenneth Ellis who
along with Donald McFarlane was wounded in
the assault

"Just to let you know that Ken Ellis---who was shot through the wrist and
survived the East House shootings (1960)---died shortly before Christmas, this
year (2207). Ken was 2 years into his railway career in 1960.He
carried on installing signalling equipment with British Rail until
privatisation-when he took an early retirement package. He was very
popular with his railway colleagues (myself included). He makes a brief
appearance in Ken Loach's film The Navigators (2000 )....... local artist, Joe
Scarborough painted a depiction of the East House shootings. I saw it about 16
years, or so, ago; it was then owned by a private collector, with whom I have
since lost touch. Joe Scarborough may have a catalogue which reproduces the
painting.

Ken was amazingly lacking in bitterness, generally--as well as specifically
about the shooting. I recall him telling us that he was in the pub, that night,
when the killer entered. Ken saw the gun in the man's hand and assumed it was a
toy. Ken said that he lifted his hands towards his shoulders--in western movie
fashion--and that's when the first bullet was fired."

5. The Guardian reported on 26th February 1960

6. PC Gilbert Robertson (1921-87) was the unarmed policeman who had
confronted Ismail in the toilets and disarmed him. He inexplicably received no official
recognition for his brave actions that night.

7. Donald McFarland who was severely disabled as a result of the attack died
in his 50's from a brain hemorrhage. It is thought that his death may have
stemmed from the injuries he received.

8. The East House continued to trade as a pub up until a few years ago when
it, like many in Sheffield, closed for the final time. The building still stands
but it is at the time of writing, a cafe